What The Heck is Christmas?
by StarBlood666
Summary: I was born and raised in a forest. I had never heard of these weird holidays. For example, what's Christmas? What's mistletoe for? And does Mikey actually care about me?


It was snowing really hard. A cold, December wind whipped through the New York streets. I shivered as I climbed down the manhole and headed home.

Everybody was in an odd flurry. I didn't quite understand. The lair was warm and sheltered, and it was already the middle of winter, so they couldn't be trying to keep warm, or to get food, as there seemed to always be an endless supply.

Yet, there was now a huge evergreen tree in the centre of the lair, and gold, emerald and scarlet streamers hanging from the ceiling. The evergreen had odd little colourful baubles all over it, and a big yellow star on top.

"What the heck?" I wondered out loud. Raphael and Helen, who'd been watching a movie, turned to me.

"Hey, look, the Forest Fairy's home." Helen teased.

"Hey, look, the alien soldier's watching a movie about a meal of venison." I shot back.

"It's not about venison. It's Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer." Helen countered.

"Deer is venison Meat. Meat is food. Food is energy, and energy is life. What's it about, anyway?" I leaned over the couch and peered at the TV, where a small deer with a big red lightbulb on its nose jumped and danced through a blizzard.

"Basically, it's about Santa's top reindeer, Rudolph, who was born with a glowing nose, and was teased, until Santa chose himm to be on his team. Then everybody loved him." Helen explained.

"Sounds stupid. Who the heck is Santa, anyway?" I scoffed. Raphael and Helen both looked surprised.

"You've never heard of Santa? Santa Claus? The main legend of Christmas?" Raphael's jaw dropped.

"The main legend of... What now? Kiss-mass? That sounds so dumb." I laughed.

"You've never even heard of Christmas before?"Leo asked, walking in with Karai, Don, April and Sensei.

"No," I replied.

"Really?! Even I had Christmas as a child!" Karai sounded stunned.

"So did I. It was different on Terra Major than it is here, but it was still Christmas. Well, actually, we called it Festival of Generosity, but it had the same principles." Helen told me. She'd already told us about how on Terra Major, they have festivals celebrating virtues. A whole lot of virtues. A whole lot of festivals.

"I lived and grew up in the forest, remember?Winters were long and cold. There was never a reason to celebrate. The only celebrations I ever had were when I caught a huge meal. That's it." I explained.

"Hey, guys! What're we talking about?" And in walked Mikey. Innocent, sweet Mikey. Dumb, naive Mikey. Annoying, obnoxious Mikey. But still my loveable Mikey, all the same.

"What are you wearing?!" I gasped. For Mikey had a huge red hat on his head with a white, furry bauble on the end, a red cape with gold trimming that fluttered out as he walked, and a huge green bow tie with large white spots on it. He had pinned a miniature version of the decorated evergreen tree onto his mask.

"A festive outfit. Doesn't it look good on me?" He asked, brightly.

"Uh..." I struggled to be positive. "Sure..."

"Oh. You don't like it." Mikey sighed, his shoulders starting to sag.

"I didn't say that! It's just... A little... Well, flashy. Especially for a ninja." I said it honestly.

"I'm not on patrol, so it doesn't really matter. Besides, who's going to see it but you guys?" He replied, somewhat cheerful.

"What's with the hat, though? Don't you already have a toque?" I flicked the white bauble on the end of the hat.

"It's Santa's hat, remember?" Mikey took off the hat and showed me the inside. It was lined with fake white fur.

"Again, no idea who Santa is." I folded my arms.

Mikey's jaw dropped faster than I've ever seen anything drop before. "You've never heard of Santa? What happened to your childhood?!"

"Spent hunting, starving, freezing, nearly dying. Especially around this time of year. Life's always been hard." I pointed out.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Raphael piped up. "Why doesn't Mikey explain Christmas to Ming somewhere away from us, and the rest of you finish putting up the mistletoe?"

"Okay. C'mon, Ming!" Mikey pulled me through the doorway to the kitchen.

So, Mikey explained. Christmas was a time when families and friends got together to celebrate a baby named Jesus. Mikey had told me of Jesus before, but I didn't know he was THAT special.

"And we all give presents to each other because of togetherness. Then, Santa Claus comes when we all sleep, and leaves wonderful gifts for everybody. He leaves all the gifts under the tree. That's why we decorate the big tree, so Santa knows where to leave the presents." Mikey babbled.

"It all sounds so... Odd. What about that stuff hanging in the doorways? I saw you hanging a lot of it." I pointed to the green leaves and red berries that hung between the kitchen and the dojo.

"That's mistletoe." Mikey explained. "It's a special plant, and it's the most important decoration of all. If you stand under it with somebody else, you have to kiss. It's the rules. If you don't, then you can't have presents until you do. I put up a lot of it as a game. Everybody else always gets caught under it, but I am the reigning champion. I've never gotten caught under the mistletoe. Ever."

"Ever? It sounds like a fun game, but if you get kissed, does that mean you're out?" I asked.

"No. It doesn't matter how many times you get kissed. You still get kissed under the mistletoe even if you lose." Mikey replied.

"oh." It sounded really fun.

"MIKEY!" Raphael yelled from the couch.

"Uh oh." Mikey walked out to the couch. I followed.

There Raph stood in the doorway to his room. Karai stood next to him. Right above them hung mistletoe.

"Why did you hang this stuff by my room?!" Raphael sounded so mad.

"Doesn't matter. You still have to kiss Karai." Donnie laughed. I started to giggle, too.

Raph scowled and gave Karai a quick, short peck. Then he turned and started running after Mikey.

Leo just stood there with his arms folded, looking upset. Helen helped Raph corner Mikey.

I intervened only after Raph had hit Mikey twice.

Throughout the day that followed, Raph and Helen were under the mistletoe constantly, Donnie and April twice, and Leo and Karai once.

Soon, it was hardly two days to Christmas Day. I was so excited, but also a little upset. Mikey had stayed true to his word. He wasn't to be caught under the mistletoe, no matter what.

To be honest, I wanted to be a part of the mistletoe tradition. I didn't really care with who. Every so often, I would find an excuse to linger where I knew there was mistletoe hanging, but to no avail. Everybody else seemed to be doing their best to avoid the mistletoe, unless it was with their significant other.

I was starting to get the feeling that nobody really liked me.

The day before Christmas, the one that Mikey described as Christmas Eve, I went out for a run on the rooftops.

I looked down among the city, pulled out a pair of binoculars, and watched a family through the window.

A little boy was happily eating a candy cane as he watched his older sister and her boyfriend kiss under some mistletoe.

After the older boy and girl left, another girl, about my age, carrying a plate of cookies, stopped under the mistletoe, looking intently at a boy her age with freckles and brown hair, but he didn't seem to notice her. After a few minutes, she turned away, looking rather sad.

"I know how you feel," I said aloud, stuffing my binoculars back into my pocket. I sniffed and wiped away a tear that had started to fall.

I sat there on the roof for a while, until Karai found me curled up and crying.

"Ming? Are you okay?" She asked.

"Oh. Karai. Well... Not really." I started to explain everything.

By the time I'd finished, Karai was looking rather thoughtful.

"So, you want somebody to kiss you?" She asked.

"Under the mistletoe, just seems so romantic and magical, an I guess I want to get kissed, too." I stood up. "It doesn't matter. I can't ask Mikey to lose his game, he takes such pride in being the champion."

"You ready to go home?" She placed a hand on my shoulder. I nodded.

By the time we got there, everybody looked really relived to see us.

"Don't do that! You scared me!" Mikey grabbed my hand.

I smiled. Okay, so maybe they do like me. Otherwise, why would they keep me around?

The next morning, I awoke to a lot of excitement. Everybody was crowded around the tree.

"Ming, hurry up!" Helen called.

"I barrelled down the stairs as fast as I could go. Taking a seat next to Mikey, I looked at all the beautiful boxes wrapped in bright paper. It was so amazing.

After we opened presents, Mikey took his new Lego set and brought it into the kitchen. I followed to help him build it.

Soon, there were two helicopters made out of Lego sitting on the table.

As soon as we finished, Mikey took my arm and started to lead me back to the room with the evergreen. Suddenly, just in the doorway, he stopped.

"Karai told me you were crying yesterday. She told me why, and also told me how to make things better. So, here's me making things better." Mikey placed a hand behind my head, taking my hand in the other one. He smiled.

I looked up. Mistletoe was hanging just above our heads.

"But... Your record." I started to feel sad again. Why should Mikey lose his title over me?

He moved forward slowly until I had my back right against the edge of the doorway.

"I think you're worth more than some dumb record. I don't care." Mikey gently kissed me. I closed my eyes.


End file.
